[Open] It was a rare day off...

[hyuugachild]

...and Hanabi didn't see them often. She considered herself, at this point, little more than a drone of the Hyuuga estate, fated to take on the much respected, prestigious role of heiress, and subsequently fated to losing much of her childhood to training, studies, and other assorted etiquette lessons and fine arts like calligraphy, weaving, ikebana and tea ceremony. All to ensure she grew to be a splendid young lady.

She certainly didn't feel splendid. She felt exhausted.

But it was a lovely day in the midst of winter, and for once, Hanabi was in the midst of Konoha, breathing in cold hair and watching mist form in front of her mouth. Hoheto, her Branch companion of the day, stood some distance behind her and followed her slowly, as if to appear as though he weren't directly watching her.

She felt self-conscious, being fourteen and still needing a keeper to tag along everywhere, but Hanabi learned quickly that this was life, and a privilege to have so many people dedicated to keeping her in the best of physical health.

Still, thinking dark thoughts wasn't going to improve the day, so Hanabi wanted to make the best of it. She walked slowly up to a shop selling yams and bought one, savoring the taste (though it wasn't as good as the ones spiced by Hyuuga hands).

It was cold, but it was a beautiful day. A day of freedom.

If you ignored the bodyguard tailing you.

Hanabi had tried an inordinate amount of times to ditch them, and failed every time; they were jounin, and she was decidedly not. Still, with every new year of training, she dreamed of escape.

Escape, the thought spread a fuzz over her brain that felt like drinking warm hot chocolate.

With the sight of the Byakugan, she eyed Hoheto's location.

She could make it.
She could.
She would.

With a small signal, a bunshin and a kawarimi no jutsu later, she was running giddily toward the forest. At the longest limits of her vision, she could see Hoheto was not following, and shortly, he'd be out of range.

"Well, it seems like you're having fun," an eerily familiar voice said...just before something hit Hanabi couldn't see hit her squarely in the gut and made the world black.

* * * * * * *

The first thing she noticed was that she was cold. Then, slowly, as sensation returned to her body, she realized her mouth was dry, like she hadn't had a drink in days, and her head and stomach hurt terribly. Shifting alone gave her gut-wrenching cramps. When she opened her eyes, she was surrounded by white.

Snow.

Snow? In Konoha?

No. Not Konoha. Definitely not.

Instantly, Hanabi assumed the worst. She must've been abducted. Kidnapped to blackmail her father. The snow was probably genjutsu...it would be silly to leave precious cargo lying about to freeze to death.

She shakily lifted her hand to make the seal of the ram. "...kai..." Hanabi whispered, hoping the genjutsu could be released simply.

Too hopeful, she chided, staring up at the snow that didn't fade, and the chill that was starting to make her clothing wet.

Hanabi was sure that she was in over her head. For a day of freedom, this was the punishment.

No. Move. Get up. Find out what's going on.

Get up, Hanabi ordered her body. Get. Up.

Comments

[hyuugachild]

"Perception isn't helping the situation at the moment," she returned. On top of which, it isn't like she got to properly experience being a shinobi, not like her sister, or her cousin.

[smallstepstopower]

"Would you like to learn?" He studied her for a moment. "Though I understand if you decline."

[hyuugachild]

"Jutsu?" Hanabi said instantly, revealing an unfortunately large tidbit about herself in the process.

[smallstepstopower]

He blinked, then inclined his head. "If you show any affinities that aren't simply your family style."

[hyuugachild]

This was stupid. She was asking a genjutsu to train her. This was absurd, this was--

"I'm a raiton user. I tested it myself when I was 9 years old." When she'd been beaten so badly by Neji she took soldier pills for a month in an attempt to catch up on training and nearly had a heart attack.

[smallstepstopower]

He drummed his fingers for a moment on his knee, thinking. "I know very little about that element, unfortunately, compared to my other skills. I am primarily a wind user myself, though it's hardly my only affinity."

[hyuugachild]

Hanabi's excitement (which looked mild, but was rather intense) subsided back into blandness. "Oh. I...perhaps you could teach me the Kuchiyose. How to summon snakes. Or--" No. He hadn't developed those jutsu yet. "Anything you know, I'd be glad to learn..."

[smallstepstopower]

"I didn't say I was incapable." His tone was amused, and he leaned in close. "Do you -really- think the snakes would be to your liking? They're not known for their friendliness."

[hyuugachild]

Neither was she. Neither was the entire Hyuuga clan, for that matter. "I can't say I'm unused to that."

[smallstepstopower]

He laughed softly and hummed. "Perhaps, if you prove to have the right qualities." He nodded once. "I'll have to evaluate you, of course."

[hyuugachild]

Hanabi had already decided. It was silly to think one could learn from genjutsu, however...training was never a bad thing. She knew that.

"What do you need from me...Orochimaru-sensei?"

[smallstepstopower]

He hummed, trying to decide how he felt about the name. "Well, you're warmed up. Can you move freely in the clothes I gave you?"

[hyuugachild]

Hanabi did a few stretches, and the first kata of Juuken to test it out. "It's a little unwieldly, but I should be able to manage with some minor adjustments."

[smallstepstopower]

"Good." He looked her over, then headed out of the room. "Come then."

[hyuugachild]

"Yes, sensei," she replied sharply, as a student should, following Orochimaru outside. Her gut was swimming. Could she actually properly train this way? Inside a genjutsu?

[smallstepstopower]

He headed deeper into the cave network, coming into a large open room and leaning back on his heels, relaxed. "Come."

[hyuugachild]

Hanabi followed, the adrenaline rising again and making all the hairs on the back of her neck stand. "Tell me what to do?"

How pathetic...that a Hyuuga heiress was so easily led around when there was a prospect of real training.

[smallstepstopower]

He smiled slightly. "Attack me. I need to see what I'm working with."

[hyuugachild]

Hanabi sucked in a deep breath, doing a quick warm-up exercise and moving through several kata, coming to a rest and closing her eyes.

Without opening her eyes, the veins at her temples swelled with blood and she ran. All things considered, she was fast, and she was accurate with her movements. Her technique, what the Hyuuga knew best, was impeccable. She wasted no movements, not even an ounce of extra chakra to execute each Juuken attack.

But, she also didn't hit very hard, and her speed was maybe 5% of where it could and should have been.

[smallstepstopower]

He blocked her, hand fluidly turning hers away, easily dispersing her Chakra into the air instead of into him. "Faster~."

[hyuugachild]

Faster.

Faster.

Hanabi pushed herself, using a thin sheen of chakra to surround her arms and legs to displace the friction of the air and allow her to move more quickly.

[smallstepstopower]

He continued to deflect, easy and not straining himself at all. "You can do better~."

[hyuugachild]

If this kept up, he would likely be disappointed and refuse to train her.

Leaping high into the air, she shot a Hakke Kuushou at the ceiling and used it to push her down at high velocity right at Orochimaru. Right before she was in range to hit him, using another well-placed burst of chakra at her feet, she TURNED in mid-air, sliding directly into the Hakkeshou Kaiten, the Hyuuga's ultimate defense, like a whirling bomb of chakra.

[smallstepstopower]

Which would have been excellent... if he hadn't finally decided to move, jumping back fluidly and letting her hit the ground instead of him. Instead, he clapped lightly. "Much better!"

[hyuugachild]

Hanabi was winded, sweaty and covered in small cuts and scrapes from the impact. The move was a last ditch effort...something that, once in effect, the motion of couldn't be changed. If you missed, you wasted a lot of chakra.

If you hit, your party would take a large amount of damage.

She was exhausted and the impact hadn't helped.

But she wasn't done. Quickly popping a soldier pill and sucking in a deep breath, she went at Orochimaru again, trying to remember the speed and keep it steady. If there was one thing she could do, it was endurance under exhaustion.